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The main political parties will be competing to get their message across to voters

It is the biggest voting event in the world: more than 800 million Indians are going to the polls over six weeks to elect a new government.

The first phase of polling starts on 7 April. The ninth and last will be held on 12 May.

Votes will be counted on 16 May.

How does it work?

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The Election Commission has urged people to vote in huge numbers

India's lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, has 543 elected seats. Any party or coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a majority government.

Some 814 million voters - 100 million more than the last elections in 2009 - are eligible to vote at 930,000 polling stations, up from 830,000 in 2009.

Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used at all polling stations. The entire process will be overseen by the Election Commission of India.

How the machines work:

1) Candidates' names are written in the majority languages and scripts of the constituency. To help illiterate voters, each candidate is also identified by a symbol: the lotus for the BJP, for example, or a hand for Congress. Non-affiliated candidates can choose a symbol from an approved list.

2) Voters press the blue button next to their preferred candidate to cast their ballot. For the first time, there is a button for None of the Above, as well as a serial number in Braille to help visually impaired voters.

3) The control unit stores the votes and runs on a battery so that it can keep working in case of a power cut. During counting, the serial number of each candidate appears, along with the total number of votes cast.

Once poll officials press the Close button under the flap, the machine stops recording any more votes. It is used at the end of polling or if anybody tries to forcibly enter a polling station with the intention of casting fraudulent votes.

4) To prevent anyone tampering with the unit holding the voting information, the unit is sealed with old-fashioned wax, supplemented by a secure strip from the election commission and a serial number.

Who are the main players?

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From left to right, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi are the key candidates for PM

This election is primarily a contest between Narendra Modi, prime ministerial candidate for the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Rahul Gandhi, vice-president of the governing Congress Party.

However, the leader of the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, is attracting a lot of attention.

Several opinion polls have given Mr Modi a sizeable lead over his rivals. However, opinion polls in India have a history of getting election results wrong.

But Mr Gandhi and Mr Kejriwal say their opponent is not the right choice for prime minister, because of his controversial past.

As chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, Mr Modi is credited with fostering economic prosperity.

But he is accused of having done little to stop anti-Muslim riots in 2002, in which more than 1,000 people died - an allegation he has always denied.

Many analysts believe the personality-driven campaigns in 2014 have taken India's general elections closer to the presidential-style system in the US.